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Classroom Facts
PixelJunk Shooter is not focused on classroom facts, though many of its basic mechanics fit into the category. The game is concerned with some fairly straightforward ideas; players must use water to cool down lava, for example, and allowing water to touch ice causes it to freeze. When gasses are introduced, they will slowly fill up any area they're enclosed in, and if they come in contact with fire they will ignite. These rules are, obviously based on real-world concepts.
Creativity & Imagination
By the Player:
Shooter is a straightforward game, made up of a series of levels that must be completed in a specific order. Many of its puzzles have room for players to act differently, but for the most part have one essential solution. There are plenty of hidden areas and treasures for careful players to seek, and players can see at a glance whether or not they've collected all of the objects in any level.
By the Developer:
Shooter is packed full of inventive ideas and brand new mechanics. The basic concepts behind the first levels of the game - releasing water and lava into one another to solve various puzzles and rescue survivors in maze-like underground caves - are themselves totally original, and they are built on at an incredible pace until the end of the game. As ice, gasses and a strange slimy substance are introduced players are tasked with figuring out how each of them interacts with the others, and extremely clever level design mixes them in unexpected ways.
The player's ship is also fun to control; gliding around the caves is simple, but the subtleties of turning and boosting allow for players to show off their skill.
A distinctive original soundtrack adds plenty of life to the game with a number of memorable tracks. This is also the first PixelJunk game to have a significant storyline; as players rescue a key survivor in each stage, they are rewarded with a short dialogue that helps reveal the mysteries surrounding the planet.
A simple, remarkable visual style also helps the game shine. There are plenty of colorful characters and inventive monsters, and watching the animations of the various fluids is truly fascinating. As a package, Shooter maybe the most polished PixelJunk game yet, and that's saying something.
Business Skills
Business skill is not an element of PixelJunk Shooter.
People Skills
Shooter can be played alone or cooperatively by two players. While adding a second player doesn't significantly change the way the game plays or progresses, players can pull off some more impressive stunts in tandem, and many sections of the game do become easier when tasks can be split up between allies.
As most stages involve a number of dangerous substances - often positioned fairly precariously - it quickly becomes apparent that players that aren't careful will end up damaging one another. Players eventually gain access to a special suit that allows their ship to spew lava; this can be a particular danger for the player without the suit.
In general though having a partner is a great help; a second player may be able to dash in to save a survivor from lava where a lone player could not. Moments of teamwork like these make the game's multiplayer mode definitely worth checking out.
Problem Solving
Problem solving involves investigating the game's many carefully designed maze-like levels and figuring out where the survivors are located and how to rescue them safely. Players can shoot away parts of caves to allow various fluids to flow into one another, resulting in a number of different effects. Players may need to mix water into lava to solidify it, allowing them to shoot through it to a survivor underneath.
The puzzles quickly get more complicated, incorporating flammable gasses, ice and weird magnetic fluid. Players often need to get to survivors quickly, before lava reaches them or toxic gasses fill up a cave. As levels get more advanced - the third and final episode, in particular, involves various machineries and other technology - players need to keep in mind more and more rules and mechanics.
The game also mixes things up with its three pretty fantastic boss fights. At the end of each 5-stage episode players battle against an enormous boss creature. Each of these encounters requires players to think of the game's mechanics in a new way to prevail.
All of these unique challenges punctuate the game's inventive levels, giving the game a comfortable pace. Every level is filled with new ideas, whether it’s the introduction of new substances, eccentric enemies or cunning traps, ensuring will experience new things from beginning to end.
Simulation
Shooter is not a simulation game.
Popularity
PixelJunk Shooter has received acclaim since its release, with many critics calling it the best PlayStation Network game of the year. One of the primary criticisms of the game is that it is not as long or as challenging as other games in the series. Reviewers praised the game's inventive mechanics and cunning level design uniformly.
Controls & Options
Shooter is limited when it comes to controls and options, including only basic audio and visual settings.
Tips
PixelJunk Shooter received an E10+ from the ESRB with descriptors for Lyrics and Mild Fantasy Violence.
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